Segmental spool



o 23, 1956 E. J. HUBBARD EIAL 2,757,936

SEGMENTAL SPOOL Filed Sept. 25, 1953.

FAG-Z LIFE mist- 5 6120.762 6. Hake!" United States Patent SEGMENTAL SPOOL Eber J. Hubbard, La Grange, 111., and George G. Tucker, Auburn, Ind., assignors to Hubbard Spool Company, Garrett, Ind., a corporation of Illinois Application September 25, 1953, Serial No. 382,344

2 Claims. (Cl. 242-118) The present invention relates to a spool and a method of construction thereof and particularly to a segmental spool formed of a plurality of segments and a method of constructing segmental spools.

The practice of the art in manufacturing and construction and assembling of reels and spools and drums and bobbins for winding rope and wire and tape and similarly elongated materials such as strip materials and cable and the like has varied but little from manufacture for many years. The spools and reels, etc. have usually been constructed either by fastening disk-like flanges or rims to central, substantially cylindrical, barrel members by whatever method was most convenient in accordance with the character of the material employed, such as nailing wooden members, gluing plastic members and welding or brazing or riveting or bolting metallic members such as steel or the like.

Another mode of construction of articles of this class and character has been employed extensively. This latter method includes drawing the barrel portion of the article out of the flange portion and fastening the central terminal ends of the barrel portions together to complete the article.

Both of these methods of making articles of this class have resulted in articles which have a strong tendency to come apart and' thereby lose their function and purpose when they are loaded.

This tendency for heretofore known spools and reels, etc. constructed in accordance with the methods hereinabove described to be subject to the faults described is due principally to the incapacity of these articles to sustain thrust loads against the flange areas of the spool or reel.

A reel or spool or bobbin or the like has been loaded by having Wire or rope or cable wound thereon for storage or shipment or other obvious purposes is subjected to strong forces acting against the inner faces of the flanges or rims and these forces result in thrust loads against the inner faces of the flanges or rims and are of substantial proportions. If the reel or spool is constructed in accordance with the heretofore known methods, such as those described above, the reel or spool is frequently incapable of withstanding these thrust loads and tends to be pushed apart thereby and therefore fails to properly carry the elongated material wound thereon.

By the present invention such a difliculty is obviated since the barrel portion of the spool and the flange sections thereof are of longitudinal unitary construction and by the method of the present invention spools and reels, etc. may be so constructed as to spread the thrust forces substantially evenly therethrough, thus reducing any tendency for the spool to come apart under load.

Another problem which has confronted the spool and reel construction and assembly art is that construction of spools and assemblies in accordance with heretofore known principles has required a multiplicity of sizes and shapes of parts necessary for the construction of a single spool. By the present invention there is provided a method of spool construction wherein all the parts necessary for the construction of a single spool may be of the same size and shape.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a segmental spool and method of constructing the same whereby the spool will have longitudinal unitary construction, thereby obviating any tendency for the spool to be pulled apart under loaded and/or stressed condition.

It is another important object of the present invention to provide a segmental spool and method of constructing the same whereby longitudinally unitary spool segments may be assembled to form a complete spool with and without additional securing means.

It is another important object of the present invention to provide a segmental spool with preformed segments each of which includes a barrel portion with integral flange or rim sections, all of which may be shaped to a wedge-like configuration.

' It is still another object of the present invention to provide a segmental spool and method of constructing the same wherein spool segments are formed each with a barrel segment and integral flange segments and wherein several complete spool segments are correspondingly juxtaposed to form the complete spool.

It is still another important object of the present invention to provide a unique segmental spool of longitudinally unitary construction and with unique, new and improved radial fastening means for maintaining a completed spool in its assembled condition.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide spool segments formable by molding or casting or machining or pressure forming or the like to have a barrel section and integral flange or rim sections of corresponding arc length at the terminal ends of the barrel section.

Still other and important objects andfeatures and advantages of the present invention will readily present themselves to those versed and skilled in the art from the following detailed description, appended claims and accompanying drawings, in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

Figure l is an end elevational view of a complete spool embodying the principles of the present invention and formed by the method of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view partially in section of the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figure 1 and taken along the line IIII thereof;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of one segment of the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the segment of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the outer surface of a radial securing device to be employed with the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figures 1 through 4.

There is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a spool or reel or bobbin or the like, indicated generally at 16, which is segmental and embodies the principles of the present invention and is formed by the method of the present invention. The spool 10 is principally constituted by a plurality of wedge segmental sections 11, 12, 13 and 14, each of which are an integral longitudinal section of the spool 10. As will be hereinafter further described, the number of spool sections or segments such as the segments 11, 12, 13 and 14, is not critical to the present invention since the spool may be made of any number of longitudinally integral sections in accordance with the principles of the present invention, preferably so long as the segments are substantially identical and two or more in number. The spool 10 has been illustrated with four segments for illustrative purposes only and as a preferred example of the present invention to enable a better definition and understanding thereof.

So too, the particular material of which the spool and the segments thereof are made is not absolutely critical to the present invention and the several parts of the spool may be made of such material as thermosetting or thermoplastic plastic or resinous material, numerous types of steel, numerous types of alloys, die-casts, pressed fibrous material, pressed laminated material or other de sired material operable within the principles and novel concepts of the present invention. It is preferred that the particular material from which the several parts of a spool embodying the principles of the present invention are to be made, have properties and characteristics giving the several parts and sections and segments sufficient toughness, hardness and strength to withstand the ordinary shocks, bumps and bruises as well as the ordinary loads to which an article of this character will be subjected in normal use. ever, that spools embodying the principles of the present invention and made by the method of the present invention need not have as high values for the abovementioned characteristics as spools made in accordance with the heretofore known methods, since by virtue of the present invention spools are inherently less susceptible to damage and distortion in general use.

The spool 10, as stated, is a preferred example of an embodiment of the present invention and is principally constituted by four spool segments 11, 12, 13 and 14, each of which is identical to the other of the segments and constitutes a one-quarter circumferential section of the spool 10. Each segment of the spool is formed as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 to have a one-quarter spool barrel section which is preferably a longitudinal one-quarter cylindrical section with integral flange elements 21 and 22 at the terminal ends thereof which are also each of a one-quarter cylinder or disk construction and correspond to the one-quarter barrel section 20. The quarter barrel section 20 and the quarter flange sections 21 and 22 are integral and formed from the same molding or pressed or casting operation together with each other.

These spool segments are also provided with radial faces or radial face elements 23 and 24 which define the mating interfaces for the several segments when they are to be assembled into a complete spool such as the spool 10. The radial faces themselves in this preferred embodiment, extend for the full length of the spool and cover the edges of the barrel segments 20 and the flange or rim sections 21 and 22 and extend radially inwardly therefrom for a short distance equal to about the thickness of the barrel body section 20, as a dimension example only and not as a critical dimension. The radial face elements 23 and 24 of each of the spool segments of the embodiment illustrated, in addition to providing the interface surfaces for the elements supply the same with provision for segment locking and securing. This provision for locking and securing is accomplished through providing each of the flange or rim sections 21 and 22 with a recess 25 and 26, respectively, also of a substantially quarterround configuration leaving the extreme edge of each of the flange sections of full thickness and leaving the small locking projections at the ends of each of the intcrface elements 23 and 24. The recesses 25 and 26 extend into the flange or rim members 21 and 22 for about half of the thickness thereof. Through the mechanism of providing these recesses, the radial face element 23 is provided with locking projections 27 and 28 at each end thereof respectively so that the projections resemble locking keys or the like on the edges of the flange or rim member. Similarly, the radial face element 24 has locking projections 29 and 30 at the axial ends thereof providing locking key-type elements on the flange or rim section.

It should be noted, hot

Now, in assembling the segmental spool 10 in accordance with the present invention and by the method of the present invention the four segments 11, 12, 13 and 14 each constructed as described above are disposed with the radial face elements of each thereof in interfacial contact and coextensively positioned so that they resemble a complete spool of a plurality of wedge-like segments.

The assembly at this stage actually is a complete spool and may be so employed simply by taping or tying the several segments together and winding the wire, tape, cable or rope, etc. thereon or simply holding the several segments in their so assembled state and winding the elongated material thereon for a few turns sufficient to hold the spool segments together. If the spool segments and the spool is assembled in this manner, it actually is not essential that they be provided with special radial faced elements and with the recesses and locking key projections but may be most simply formed as spool segments having merely a barrel section and flange or rim sections of corresponding dimensions and assembled as described in a manner fixing the assembly even as by gluing or otherwise bonding or the like.

In the embodiment of the present invention illustrated, however, it is preferred that the spool segments be definitely and positively secured together and a novel, new and improved securing means is provided therefor. This improved securing means in its simplest form includes a pair of key slotted washers or washer-like elements 31 and an axial shaft-like member 32. The key-slotted securing washer 31 has a diameter greater than the internal diameter of the axial hollow 33 of the spool 10, which internal hollow 33 is provided by virtue of constructing the spool barrel segments of relatively thin walls, and less than or equal to the internal diameter with the rim edge shoulder defining the radially outward extreme of the recesses in the flange or rim sections of the segments. The washer 31 is of stepped configuration, however, and is so constructed that one axial portion thereof has a diameter which is substantially equal to the internal diameter of the hollow 33 of the spool 10. It is the other axial portion of the securing washer 31 which is of the greater diameter above defined. The axial section of lesser diameter 34 (best viewed in section in Figure 2) serves also as a spacing member properly positioning the several segments of the spool. The section of greater diameter 35, as the same is viewed in elevation in Figures 1 and 5, serves as the key projection locking means.

To accomplish key projection locking, the washer 31 is radially recessed as at 36, 37, 38 and 39 with the recesses extending radially inwardly from the periphery of the locking portion 35 of the washer 31 and axially through the entire thickness of the washer. The recesses actually, in this embodiment of the invention, also extend well into the spacing portion 34 of the washer 31 and each have a width equal to about twice the thickness of the key projection sections of each of the radial face elements of each of the segments. The number of key-receiving recesses is equal to the number of segments employed in constructing the spool and are angularly spaced in accordance with that number such that the recesses 36, 37, 38, and 39 are each respectively separated from adjacent recesses, while if three segments each of were employed in constructing the spool 10 the recesses would be respectively 120 separated.

Disposition of key-receiving locking washers 31 into each end of the assembled spool segments with pairs of adjacent key projections extending into and through the recesses in the washers and with the spacer portions 34 of the washers seated in the hollow 33 of the spool locks the spool segments in their properly assembled interrelation with the several radial face elements of each thereof in interfacial contact with the equivalent portion of the next adjacent spool.

In addition to locking the spool segments in their properly assembled relation, the securing washer 31 also assists in sustaining the thrust load against the inwardly facing surfaces of the flanges or rims of the spool in that the shoulder provided by the locking portion 35 of the washer is in interfacial and bearing contact with the outwardly facing surface of the flange or rim. To further assist in sustaining the thrust load and to secure the locking washers against axial displacement, the washers 31 are axially apertured as at 46 and a central thrust load shaft or tube 32 is fitted therethrough. On the axially outward side of the washers 31 they are counterbored to have a lip-like boss 42 projecting axially outwardly and preferably with the axially outward extremity thereof still inwardly of the axial outer surface of the washer 31. The thrust shaft or tube, illustrated in the drawings as a tube 32, is provided with a rolled outwardly or flared outwardly end rolled over the boss 42 at each end of the tube thereby securing the washers 31 against axial displacement and providing another element assisting in withstanding the axial thrust load on the spool or reel.

It is preferred to employ a tube for the thrust bearing member 32 so that reeling and unreeling of the elongated material to be placed on the spool may be more conveniently accomplished through carrying the spool on a shaft for rotation thereon.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the segmental spool and the method of assembling are not restricted in their novel concepts to the details shown on the drawing, but that numerous modifications and variations may be made without departing from the novel concepts and the spirit of the present invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A segmental spool comprising a plurality of spool segments, each of said spool segments having integrally formed flange or rim sections at each end of a barrel section, all of said sections being of substantially the same arc length, said plurality of spool segments being so positioned that corresponding barrel sections of each of said segments form a complete spool barrel and corresponding flange sections of each of said segments form a complete flange at each end of the spool, a recess in each of said flange sections of each of said plurality of segments extending axially into said flange sections leaving key-like projections on said flange sections, a key recessed securing washer receiving said key-like projections on said flange sections and axial means securing said washers against axial displacement.

2. A segmental spool comprising a plurality of spool segments, each of said spool segments having integrally formed flange or rim sections at each end of a barrel section, all of said sections being of substantially the same arc length, said plurality of spool sections being so positioned that corresponding barrel sections of each of said segments form a complete spool barrel and corresponding flange sections of each of said segments form a complete flange at each end of the spool, a recess in each of said flange sections of each of said plurality of segments extending axially into said flange sections leaving key-like projections on said flange sections, a key recessed securing washer receiving said key-like projections on said flange sections, and a tubular member extending through said washers and through said barrel and having flanged ends overlying said washers to secure the same against axial displacement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 815,683 Cost Mar. 20, 1906 864,304 Hubbard Aug. 27, 1907 1,672,167 Mossberg June 5, 1928 1,697,777 Mossberg Jan. 1, 1929 2,299,532 Cronk et al. Oct. 20, 1942 2,307,354 Braglio Jan. 5, 1943 2,648,507 Kitzrow Aug. 11, 1953 

